Confessions 2: The End of Night
by Art-Over-Matter
Summary: "Are ye sure about this?" Jack asked. Mark paused and looked at him for a moment. "No. I can't be sure about it. But the way I see it, you're here. You're the only one who knows about this, and more importantly, you can bring me back to my normal self—if only for a few seconds—if anything goes...wrong."


Midsummer, around 10:30 pm.

"Are ye sure about this?" Jack asked, frowning uncertainly as Mark handed him the clumsy-looking yellow gun and a bottle of pepper spray.

Mark paused and looked at him for a moment. "No. I _can't_ be sure about it. But the way I see it, you're here. You're the only one who knows about this, and more importantly, you can bring me back to my normal self—if only for a few seconds—if anything goes really wrong." He sighed. "I'm sorry I have to ask anything of you, Jack. It's really terrible timing that we should be at another meet-up again at the same time this is going to happen. This area has nowhere to go that isn't populated in some way."

Sean nodded uneasily and glanced around. It was mostly dark, of course—the moon wasn't fully visible behind some of the buildings—but he knew they were in a largely industrial area of the city. There were some storage buildings lit up by streetlights off to his left, but no one was around that he could see. Behind him, he could hear the occasional car pass by on the road.

"I—I don't mind being here all night," Sean started. "I just—I don't know about the Taser. I've never shot a gun before in my life, Mark."

The American nodded in understanding and said, "I know. Ideally, you won't have to use it at all. But if I get out of there," he said, nodding toward the small, abandoned cement building a few meters away, "I can't have you unprotected, and I don't know that pepper spray won't just enrage me further. Anyway, it's not too hard to aim. By the time I'm close enough you can hit me, you won't miss." He frowned. "On that thought, you might want to try the bear spray first. It'll shoot from forty feet away and the Taser's range is only fifteen."

Jack paused to do a mental conversion of feet to meters, then nodded. "Have you ever shot one of these before?" he inquired, lifting the Taser.

Mark shook his head. "No, so I can't tell you much about how it'll feel. But I've shot a regular gun and I can tell you it's not too hard to aim at close range as long as you don't try to shoot from the hip." He smiled slightly as Sean gave him a suspicious look. "It's America, Jack. Everyone's shot a gun."

Sean shrugged, rolling his eyes slightly, and dropped the gun to his side.

Mark winced and stiffened. "It's about time," he said tightly.

Jack swallowed hard. "Okay. I'll—um. I don't want to seem nosy, but I just wanted to note that you seem to be acting differently about this full moon than the last one. Did something…did something happen last month?"

Mark turned his head to the side, clenching his eyes shut in both anger and regret, and Sean knew immediately that he shouldn't have asked.

He started to take it back. "You know, never mind, I—"

"No," Mark snapped, easy to provoke right before transforming. When he spoke again he was calmer. "I at least owe you an explanation for why I want you to be here this time." He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I wandered too close to a neighborhood last month." He looked up as Jack's shocked face caught his eye. "No, no, I didn't…I didn't hurt anyone. But if it hadn't been early morning, I might have. As it was, she saw me and…." He glanced to the ground and shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. "She was terrified of me, Jack, and…she had every right to be. I would have killed her if her dog hadn't gotten in the way."

Sean could tell immediately by Mark's expression that the dog hadn't made it out of the encounter alive.

"I never wanted anyone to fear me, Sean," Mark said, looking up at Jack. There were unmistakable tears in his eyes.

"We'll figure this out, Mark," Jack said, sounding a little uncertain himself. He hesitated, but then stepped forward and gave his friend a brief hug.

Mark tried to pull away at first, but snapped out of it quickly and returned the gesture.

When they'd parted, Sean said, "I'm sorry about all this. This time will be better, okay?"

Mark nodded vaguely and wiped his eyes. "God dammit, now's not the time for this." He sniffed and made eye contact with Jack. "Thanks. Good luck."

Sean nodded and they parted ways. As Jack walked away, he didn't fail to notice that his heart was beating quickly, and he didn't think it was just due to anxiety.

_x_

Mark pulled open the heavy, rusted door and entered the nearly pitch-black building. He shut the door behind him and locked it. He'd noticed on his way in that one of the hinges looked weak, but this was the best he had, so he didn't think too hard about it.

The pain in his back was starting to become overwhelming, and his volatile mood wasn't helped by the fact that he was slightly claustrophobic and this building was tiny. He could feel the transformation coming on as the pain spread. As his senses sharpened, he though he heard a very distant noise.

Like the howl of another wolf.

_x_

Sean sighed and sat down in the shotgun of the borrowed SUV—which really should have been the driver's seat, weirdo Americans. He reclined his seat and thought vaguely that he'd better not get this vehicle ruined too. This wasn't a rental, so maybe they wouldn't have to pay for it, but he'd feel guiltier about this given that it was an acquaintance's car.

He leaned forward, grabbed the large flashlight off of the console, and flicked it on, setting it on the dashboard and aiming it at the cement building. It shined up to fourteen meters or so and reached the building easily. As long as he was watching, he wouldn't miss anything leaving there.

Sean plugged in his headphones and turned some music up on his phone. Mark had told him about staying up all night around noon, so he'd slept earlier and didn't think he'd have any problems being awake the whole night. If all went well, it would be a boring few hours.

-0-

Early morning, 4:13 am.

Jack scrolled through Tumblr on his phone, still answering asks from his fans (most of them European fans, to whom it was midday instead of very early morning). He knew everyone's dashboard would be spammed with questions and answers, but he'd run out of other entertainment for himself.

All had gone well, and at this point Sean figured the likelihood of Mark escaping the cement building was low. He'd heard a lot of growling and snarling and scratching at first, but it had settled down over time and now was silent.

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Jack frowned and glanced out his side window. It was too dark to see anything, so he grabbed the flashlight and swung it around to light up the gravel parking lot.

Nothing.

 _It's not that weird, Sean. It could be fuckin' anything._

 _Yeah, it could be anything._

 _Like a reflection on the glass._

 _Like a_ werewolf.

Sean shook his head. He knew Mark hadn't gotten out. He was being paranoid.

He went back to his phone, putting the light back to where he'd had it before.

 _Thunk._

Jack jumped, startled, and snatched the flashlight off the dash to point it out the window again.

It lit up the snarling face of a wolf.

He let out a strangled cry and scrambled away into the drivers' seat. How had Mark escaped without him knowing?

Or…

Jack grabbed the Taser in one hand and the flashlight in the other. Could he shoot the gun one-handed? It was pretty tiny, sure, but would it make it harder to aim?

He scanned the area outside the driver door with the pool of light from his flashlight. There was nothing there, but he couldn't be convinced to step outside until he actually knew where the wolf was.

His question was answered when he heard something hit the passenger door again.

Immediately, Jack opened the door and got out, his heart hammering in his chest. He kept the flashlight pointed at where he'd seen the wolf as he backed up toward the cement building. If he could get in there, he'd probably be safer than in the car.

As the wolf stepped into the light, Sean immediately realized the stupidity of that.

This wasn't Mark.

Even in the bluish-hued light of the flashlight, he could see the wolf was a lighter gray than he remembered Mark being, and its eyes were more yellow than gold.

But it was the same size as Mark, and it was definitely a werewolf.

And it definitely wanted to kill him.

Jack panicked, bringing up the Taser to fire it in both hands, dropping the flashlight in the process. The wires shot out of the end of the gun, but Jack heard nothing except the clicking of the electricity going down the wires.

Then a growl.

He'd missed.

He heard a metallic bang and felt the air move as something rushed past his left side, its strides crunching on the gravel.

Sean bent down, dropping the Taser and picking up the flashlight. Terrified and confused, he pointed it at the source of noise, which was now the combination of canine snarling and skidding gravel.

Two werewolves engaged in a furious battle, and as soon as Jack had recovered from his shock, he realized what had happened. Mark had made it out of the building, right in time to save Sean's ass.

For a second, relief spread through Jack, but it was a match dropped into a river. What if they stopped fighting and _both_ decided to attack him? What if this other wolf put up a better fight than Mark?

_x_

The wolf didn't know why it had the urge to protect this human. While werewolves were naturally aggressive, it wasn't just a need to fight that fueled this battle.

Mark had to keep Jack safe.

Of course, as safe as he could be while standing a few yards from an enraged pair of deadly animals.

Mark had never fought another werewolf before, and he hadn't anticipated how difficult it was. The other animal predicted most of his lunges and it fought back with unparalleled ferocity.

The first bite he got was on his shoulder. The two wolves had been stalking each other for several seconds, circling and snarling without actually making a move. Then the enemy wolf feinted and Mark took the bait.

He dodged away from the feint only to be rewarded with a savage pain in his shoulder. The other wolf kept its jaws locked, growling and trying to tear at the skin. Mark heard some sort of yell from the observing human, but he was too distracted to decipher it. He finally drove the wolf off by delivering a bite to its left foreleg, but it didn't do as much damaged as he'd hoped.

Mark backed away, limping and still growling.

It finally occurred to him that he might not make it away from this fight.

_x_

It was hard for Jack not to interfere. He knew if he tried, he'd probably get killed, but it was excruciating for him to watch the light gray wolf sink its teeth into Mark's fur and flesh.

Sean knew the smart thing to do would be to get in the SUV and drive the hell away, coming back in an hour or two once they'd both be humans. But he couldn't leave Mark. There might not be anything to do, but if he left, it would kill him to think that there might have been.

 _Jesus fucking Christ, why do I feel so pessimistic about this all of a sudden?_

Sean shook his head. Mark would be fine.

At least, that's what he thought before he saw the wolf take Mark down.

It happened more suddenly than he could have imagined. Mark made a bad move—Jack wasn't even sure what—and the other wolf got the upper hand.

It swiped a paw across Mark's already injured shoulder in an almost catlike fashion. The darker wolf, trying to escape the pain, backed up, using only three legs. This gave his enemy the opening it needed.

The unknown wolf locked its jaw onto the back of Mark's neck and pulled him off his feet. Jack shouted something unintelligible as Mark's snarls started to turn into whimpers of pain and the other wolf bit harder into his neck. It let go, finally, to shove Mark onto his back, standing over him and preparing to end his life with a bite to the throat.

Jack swept the rock off the ground and hurled it at the werewolf. It was only about the size of his fist, but when it collided with the side of the wolf's head, Sean could tell it must have hurt.

The wolf snarled and looked up at the Irishman, its jaw dripping with Mark's blood.

"Get off him, ye bastard!" Jack shouted at it, and started to fumble in his pocket.

The werewolf reached him in two bounds, pouncing and knocking him over before Sean had a chance to move.

Jack landed on the gravel flat on his back with a four-hundred pound hellhound on top of him. Its claws dug into his shoulder and Sean nearly cried out in pain, but the pause afforded him the time he needed.

He pulled the black bottle out of his pocket, closed his eyes, and sprayed the wolf in the face.

It yelped in pain as the capsicum hit its eyes and it backpedaled, crawling off Jack. Whimpering, sneezing, and periodically stopping to rub its eyes with a paw, the wolf turned tail and ran.

Sean lay on the ground for a few seconds with his eyes still squeezed shut, trying not to hyperventilate. His heartbeat was a fully-body pound and he could feel a steady—painful—warmth throughout his right shoulder, where his own blood was soaking his shirt.

He sat up slowly and reached around for his flashlight, which had clicked off when the werewolf pounced him. As soon as he found it, he turned it on—though it was starting to get light enough to see by—and stood, rushing over to Mark's side.

"Mark?" Jack asked, his voice unsteady as he knelt next to the wolf.

The werewolf growled, but it was a futile attempt at being threatening. He was still lying on his side across the gravel, blood spilling from his wounds to soak the ground. His body was completely still other than his breathing, and Jack had to guess that he was probably paralyzed from the neck down.

"Mark…you—you saved my life," Jack all but whispered, reaching a hand out to touch the top of Mark's head. The wolf didn't resist. "How did you know? And—why? Why were you willing to do this to yourself?"

He knew, of course, that Mark couldn't answer him. He also knew, as he looked at the bloodied punctures on the wolf's neck and shoulder, that Mark wasn't going to recover from this.

"What am I supposed to do with you? You're a fuckin' werewolf, I can't—" He cut off as a lump rose to his throat. "I can't take you anywhere. I can't help you, Mark—"

And he broke down into tears.

The wolf whimpered and tried to lift his head as though in protest, but he couldn't move much. Jack shifted positions and carefully lifted the werewolf's head into his lap, fighting to quench his sobbing. He clumsily stroked the large canine's ears as he hung his head over him.

"I'm going t—to lose you, Mark," Sean sputtered, angry, sad, terrified, and confused as to how everything could have gone so wrong so fast. "What can I tell everyone? You can't just d— _die_ on me!" He took a shuddering breath and wiped his nose and eyes. "I'm sorry, Mark. I'm sorry I got myself in trouble, I'm sorry I had to get involved, I'm sorry I'm the only one here for you right now."

The wolf looked up at him, pained and desperate, as though powerfully wishing he could say something.

Jack barely noticed. "I don't deserve to be here," he said faintly. "If anyone else could be here with you, it would be better than me."

Mark issued a soft growl from his throat, and while it could have been unnecessary werewolf aggression, Jack suspected it was a message for him to shut up.

Sean broke down fully right then. He leaned down to rest his forehead on the top of Mark's head and didn't hold anything back.

It took a few minutes for it to subside. When it did, Sean was left breathless and hollow, but somehow, there was more he had to say.

"Mark?" he asked quietly.

There was no response from the wolf, and though Sean could see he was still breathing, he seemed unconscious or nearly so.

"Mark…Mark, I…I love you." A brief thought crossed his mind at how desperate this must have all sounded, but he couldn't give half a fuck. At this point, he knew there was no chance of Mark surviving this.

"I love you, I don't know if I mean that as a friend, or…something else. I never tried to think about the latter, because I thought I was straight—and, y'know, we don't live on the same continent. I guess I should have…but it doesn't matter now." He paused to hold back another torrent of tears. "You're such an amazing person, Mark. I wish the world didn't have to lose you. I wish…I…didn't have to lose you."

He opened his mouth to say more, but paused, and then fell silent.

-0-

5:36 am.

Jack had, at some point, slipped out from under Mark to go dig a blanket out of the SUV, which he had used to cover the still-barely-surviving wolf so he wouldn't have to look at all the blood anymore.

Now he sat, having positioned Mark's head back onto his lap, drifting in and out of sleep as the sun rose. He hadn't wanted to sleep, because as it got light, they could be seen from the road and there was far too much to explain if anyone became curious. Yet the night had been long and Sean was more tired than he'd ever been.

He awoke to the sensation of the weight lifting off his legs. With a frown already on his face, he straightened, rubbing exhaustion out of his eyes, and looked down.

Mark was back to human form. And he was coming conscious.

His eyes opened suddenly and he took a deep breath, pausing as though to collect himself before rolling onto his back and looking up at Jack with a puzzled expression.

"Sean…?"

"M—Mark?" Jack pushed the blanket off Mark's neck and shoulder to find the wounds completely gone. "How the fuck…?"

"Jack," he said vaguely, his eyebrows knitted. "You're still here?"

"Of course I'm still here! I thought—I thought you were dying, I wasn't about to leave you! Why are you not dead?" Despite Jack's demands, he could feel that he was starting to tear up again in relief.

Mark smiled slightly and reached up to brush a stray tear off Jack's cheek. "The wounds disappear. Anything that happens to me in wolf form disappears in the morning."

Sean leaned back slightly. "You knew about this?"

Mark nodded and frowned. "Last time, when I got attacked by that dog, I noticed the bite was completely gone once I turned into a human."

Jack felt his face flush with color. So the whole time he'd been spilling his guts to the dying wolf, Mark had known it would all go away?

"Well—" he started, but couldn't make a proper sentence. "I—but—"

"Jack," Mark said softly, silencing him, "I didn't even know I was going to make it until sunrise."

"But—you heard everything I said?"

Mark nodded again. "I did." And with that, he lifted his head, pulling Jack down with a hand on his neck, and kissed him.

_x_

"I know you're hurt," Mark said after they parted. He still felt lightheaded from being in so much pain—not to mention having been paralyzed—but he hadn't failed to notice the blood on Jack's shoulder.

"Oh, I—I'm fine."

Mark didn't grace him with an answer as he sat up, repositioning the blanket on top of him to keep it covering him from the waist down. Thank God for that blanket. "There's a first-aid kit in the SUV, I think. I can fix you up for the time being."

"Mark, really, I'll deal with it late—"

"Sean," Mark interrupted, turning to put a hand on Jack's uninjured shoulder. "You saved my life. I protected you, sure, but if you hadn't distracted whoever that was…I never would have made it to this morning."

Jack looked at the ground. "Yeah, I just…. I couldn't just watch you be torn apart. A fuckin' rock is the best I could think of."

Mark chuckled, which made Jack look up in surprise. "I never thought I would say my life was saved by a rock."

Jack smiled. "A rock and some pepper spray."

_x_

A few minutes later, Mark had gotten dressed in the spare clothes he'd brought and dug the first-aid kit out of the SUV.

Sean stood next to the vehicle with his shirt off while Mark took care of the claw marks. They weren't very deep, but Jack had left them open to infection for over an hour, so by the time it came to cleaning them, it hurt like a motherfucker.

"I have to wonder who the other werewolf was," Mark said with a thoughtful frown as he pulled gauze and an adhesive bandage out of the kit. "I haven't seen another one since I…got bitten."

"You're going to tell me about that during the drive back," Jack said through clenched teeth. The punctures in his shoulder still stung.

"Yeah," he said vaguely. "I wish I could tell whoever it was this morning that I'm still alive."

"You don't hold any bitterness toward them? Not that I'm saying ye should, I'm just surprised."

Mark looked at him, and Jack immediately understood what he was going to say.

"If you'd ever had your mind controlled by a monster, you wouldn't hold bitterness toward anyone suffering from the same thing, either." He swept Jack's shirt off the top of the car and tossed it to him.

 _Besides, Sean,_ Jack thought to himself, _this is Mark. He may not be perfect, but he sure as hell doesn't hold a grudge._

"I'll drive," Mark offered, and Jack didn't argue. He was pretty sure he was too exhausted to drive safely, though he wasn't sure why Mark wouldn't be.

"As long as you don't mind that I'm stopping to get some coffee," Mark added, which answered Sean's internal question. "I could use some fucking coffee."

Jack smiled, and the eye contact they shared right then felt far more intimate than an exchange about coffee warranted. "Me too."


End file.
